Plagiarism

Plagiarism occurs when a user takes any original creative works, namely 2D or 3D assets, from the original developer/builder/designer/artist, and passes it off as as his/her own. The plagiarizer does not attribute (give credit to) the original creator of the item. Plagiarism is different than copyright infringement.

One way plagiarism is different than copyright infringement is that plagiarism can happen with the full blessing of the original creator. For example, User1 can design a custom shirt for her brother, User2, to sell as group merchandise in his Roblox store. She does the for free and doesn’t want credit. User2 uploads the shirt under his own name, and does not state “Designed by User1” in the credits/description. A group member posts on the group wall: “U make cool merch, u r an awesome dzignr.” User2replies: “Thanks”. User2 is falsely claiming credit for work he didn’t do, committing plagiarism with the full blessing of his “ghost” designer sister. Sometimes plagiarism is not copyright infringement.

Copyright is governed by the federal law called Digital Milennium Copyright Act. Most Roblox creators don’t have registered trademarks, so here we will focus on original creative works and copyright, which do not require a registered trademark, per se. For artists and designers, especially Roblox clothing designers or 2D and 3D asset creators, the minute they publish original creative work on the Roblox platform (“tangible form”) they establish a copyright.

Plagiarism is often frowned upon within the ROBLOX community and in severe cases may be classified as copyright infringement. Plagiarism is often seen through copied advertisements, decals, places, and clothing items. More notable ROBLOXians who have been identified as having plagiarized include Jaredvaldez4.